Lessons from a County Fair

We’re back in Iowa for our annual summer visit.  Given that Kenny is going to Kindergarten and our school district sees fit to start classes on the ridiculously early date of August 11 (insert adult tantrum here), we had to move the summer visit up by two weeks.  I was so disappointed to miss the world renown Iowa State Fair (it really should be on EVERYONE’S bucket list:-).  BUT, my consolation prize was being back for the county fair.  I was raised in farm country in the smack-dab middle of Iowa. 

 Growing up, the closest Target was 20 minutes away (driving at highway speeds), and the closest Gap was one-hour’s drive (guess who grew up thinking JC Penney’s was the cat’s meow!?).  Needless to say, the county fair was a big deal during my formative years.  My best friends and I were members of the Luther Livewires 4-H club, and county fair was not only a place to showcase our hard work and talents, but it also gave us a place to socialize all day every day for five days in a row!  This probably doesn’t seem like a big deal to kids who grew up in town.  You were either a walk or bike ride away from the hottest social gathering…..not so for us country kids.  We had to BEG our parents to drive us miles on gravel roads to our friends’ houses.  A horrible little bi-product of this was that the friends and activities had to be parental approved.  Ugh--the horror!  The five days of fair were unsupervised bliss.  We could watch livestock shows to our heart’s content, stroll through the livestock barns, and pick apart the decorating theme of rival 4-H clubs’ display booths.  (Yes, I’m starting to see why our usually overprotective parents gave us free reign!).  The summer after my junior year of high school, I was crowned fair queen and had the privilege of reigning over this glorious kingdom. 

 So Saturday was the big day…prodigal fair queen returns home.  There was excitement in my voice as I asked the boys what they wanted to do first.  And then there was annoyance when I realized my husband and sons were bored after just one hour!  Thanks to the ice cream stand and a magic show we clocked a whopping three hours at the fair.  (And I’ll be the first to admit that I was ready to leave too!) 

 What happened to my magical little kingdom of fun and freedom?  The fair was actually better now than it was twenty years ago, so why wasn’t I begging to stay for the long haul?  My world has certainly changed since then.  If only life was so simple and straight forward.  The worst I could do then was a red ribbon, given out ever-so sparingly by the judges.  Now there are doctor’s appointments, mortgage payments, and a Facebook feed that I just can’t seem to keep up with!  Seriously though, it was a reminder to stop and smell the roses.  Just a simple flower I encounter on a walk should bring me joy.  But our society has become so over-stimulated, that we expect a Disney-type experience every day.  The county fair was my reminder for the day that we can find joy in any circumstance God places us.  So I’m going to find joy in my everyday flowers (or livestock barns).